{"id":129,"date":"2011-03-29T20:45:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-30T03:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/hand-placement-for-long-snapping\/"},"modified":"2020-04-06T20:33:23","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T20:33:23","slug":"hand-placement-for-long-snapping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/?p=129","title":{"rendered":"Hand Placement for Long Snapping"},"content":{"rendered":"
There is an age-old argument in regards to Long Snappers and where their hands should be placed on the ball.<\/div>\n
\u201cYou have to hold it like this!\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou have to cup the football with your dominant hand\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYour thumb and index finger need to be almost touching\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYour non-dominant hand needs to form an L\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou need to have all of your dominant fingers touching\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYour thumb needs to be on the seam\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYour non-dominant index finger needs to be on the seam\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBlah blah blah\u201d<\/div>\n
Cue Charlie Brown teacher again.<\/div>\n
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Let me ask you a couple quick questions just to crush all of the above statements\u2026.<\/div>\n
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1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>If every Long Snapper\u2019s hands had to be the EXACT same way to be a great snap, then how is it possible that every Long Snapper in high school, college and the pro does not have\u00a0 the exact same grip?<\/i> (Rubio comes out swinging baby!) Answer: they don\u2019t.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>How is it possible to have all Long Snappers have the same grip on the football when everyone\u2019s hands are not the exact same dimensions nor hold the same character traits? For instance, my hands are huge with very long fingers that spread extremely wide (think 180 degrees from thumb to pinky\u2026..go ahead and try it\u2026.I will pause). Should I force someone with tiny paws to have the same grip?<\/i> Answers: It isn\u2019t and nope.<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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My paw on the bottom and a Rubio Long Snapper’s (2013) on top.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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<\/b>At this point, you are either embracing and are having an epiphany (what a great word) or are upset with me since I just demolished your theory. Either way, you are probably saying, \u201cOk Rubio, so what\u2019s the proper way to hold the ball when snapping? My answer: there really isn\u2019t one.<\/p>\n

I pulled up some pictures of several very dominant college and pro Long Snappers. Look hard at them. I want you to notice one thing: not one of them has exactly the same grip and they were all instructed by me at some point. The closer you look, the more you will notice the little differences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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You might see them and say \u201cCome on Rubio, there is barely any difference!\u201d But let me remind you that being a Long Snapper means dealing with a very small surface area (football), any slight adjustment or variation on that area conveys a completely different feel and will result in a completely different outcome (ball trajectory, spiral, placement, etc). Compare it to a car and it\u2019s \u201carea\u201d\u2026.just the slightest movement within it and everything feels different (imagine driving from the passenger seat\u2026you could do it, but man would it be different). Now imagine if that car was the size of a football. An inch adjustment would mean you are now driving from the trunk.<\/p>\n

Therefore, I am a firm believer in doing what comes natural to you. Hold the ball with your dominant hand the way you would throw a pass like a quarterback. Remember, like I always say, a Long Snapper is just a quarterback that is upside down and going the wrong way<\/b>? So, go ahead and snap like it that.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What about the non-dominant hand you ask? Well, this one can be a tad trickier. I taught myself and I have my left middle finger right on the seam. Why? It felt comfortable and it was easy for me to remember where to put my hand. Not a lot of scientific reasoning for you on that one. It worked, and I embraced it. Done.<\/p>\n

As I have continuously worked with Long Snappers over the past decade <\/a>I have noticed that many can\u2019t do that grip because of hand size or lack thereof. It seems that most like to embrace a split of the seam between their non-dominant index and middle finger. Hey, whatever floats your boat. I don\u2019t care, just get the ball back there fast and put it on the hip. If you are getting the final product right, why would I adjust you?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Breathe. I don\u2019t want you getting all stressed about this topic. No need. Your grip is not a deal breaker. It is just something that starts the process and it can be done hundreds of different ways. Here is the best part about this whole discussion: there is no right answer or way. Snapping, essentially, is not how you are holding the ball but how it is released and how you are using the rest of your body. It is a very small step in the entire process of a perfect snap and becoming a great Long Snapper. Plain and simple.<\/div>\n
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Still confused? Looks like I will see you at a camp<\/a> or a lesson<\/a> in the very near future where I guarantee I can explain my theory.<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Chris-Rubio-2\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Rubio Long Snapping<\/a> is, by far, the biggest and best resource for Long Snappers in the country. Offering the best instruction and most exposure in the world. Rubio Long Snapping can help you to become the best snapper you can be!<\/em><\/p>\n

In just 12 years,\u00a0Chris Rubio<\/a>, President and Owner of\u00a0Rubio Long Snapping,\u00a0has become the #1 Long Snapping instructor in the country and the go-to man when a college coach needs a Long Snapper. Colleges from across the country rely on \u201cRubio\u2019s\u201d word day in and day out on who the best Long Snappers are in the country. Rubio Long Snapping\u00a0has assisted in over 300 Long Snappers earning FULL SCHOLARSHIPS to\u00a0major colleges and universities just for Long Snapping<\/a>\u00a0and many into the NFL as well.<\/em><\/p>\n

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3717<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is an age-old argument in regards to Long Snappers and where their hands should be placed on the ball. \u201cYou have to hold it like this!\u201d \u201cYou have to cup the football with your dominant hand\u201d \u201cYour thumb and index finger need to be almost touching\u201d \u201cYour non-dominant hand needs to form an L\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2],"tags":[2276,2275,15,17,19,20],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-long-snapper","tag-hand-placement","tag-how-to-hold-the-ball-when-long-snapping","tag-long-snapper-2","tag-long-snapping","tag-longsnapper","tag-longsnapping","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9528,"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/9528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rubiosblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}